system failed many people. >> we are giving away 120. -- $100,000 in cash prizes. -- deadline is [indiscernible] to oure information, go website, studentcam.org. >> civil rights advocates and public safety experts tell a house panel about how to ensure a safe and fair election in november amid the coronavirus. they highlighted voter compliance with cdc guidelines, concerns about voter suppression, and recommended mail in balloting and early voting as ways to keep voters safe.

chair clyburn: good afternoon. the committee will come to order. with out objection, the chair has authorized to declare a recess for the committee at any time. for anecognize myself opening statement. this morning, we heard the president in his own words, recorded in february, described the coronavirus as "deadly stuff." recordingo heard a from march, in which he admitted quoted again "i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down because i don't want to create a panic." didtrump administration play down the pandemic, refusing

to level with the american people about the known danger and refusing to develop and implement a national plan to stop the spread. as a result, more than 190,000 and thes have died coronavirus is continuing to kill hundreds and in fact tens of thousands every day. weeks,e next eight americans will be casting their votes in the midst of this ongoing crisis. holding a free, fair, and safe election under these circumstances is a challenge. but let there be no doubt, if we all do our part, america is up to the challenge. june, the center for disease

control and prevention issued simple, clear guidance to keep people healthy while casting their votes. of fundamental principle this guidance is, and i quote "reducing the number of voters who congregate indoors, in polling locations at the same time." includes threee key elements. first, cdc calls for, and i quote, "alternatives to in person voting. that includes voting by mail and drop boxes to safely collect ballots. for,d, the cdc calls quoted again, "increasing the

number of polling locations available for early voting and extending the hours of operation." that, cdc recommends election administrators, quoting increase theain or number of polling places available to the public on election day." these simple steps are achievable everywhere in america, and i am pleased that many state and local officials, both democrats and republicans, have made progress in implementing them. unfortunately, not every jurisdiction is following the cdc's guidance. the consequences of this refusal are predict people. we saw what happened in this year's primary elections in

states that reduce the number of polling places and did not have adequate alternatives to in person voting. voters waited up to five hours to cast their ballots . in texas, voters endured lines up to seven hours long. in wisconsin's largest city, -- largest city, milwaukee, 97% of polling places were closed, leading to long lines for the cities voters. florida, 112 polling places across the state were closed, moved, or consolidated. voters,tions left many especially people of color, unable to exercise their right to vote.

we cannot allow the pandemic to be used as a cover to continue or exacerbate the ugly history of voter suppression. select subcommittee launched an investigation to whereine the states primary voters face significant measures have made necessary improvements for the general election. today, we are issuing a staff report with some troubling findings that must be corrected. i ask unanimous consent that this report be entered into the objections,without so ordered. texas, local elected

warned that voters could be waiting in line for hours on election day and reported that not having enough poll workers is their primary concern for the election. refusal to expand absentee voting, it is crucial that texas take steps now to recruit poll workers rather than resorting to closing polling places and reducing hours. georgia is making the puzzling absenteet to mail out ballot applications to all voters for the general election after successfully doing so for the primary.

georges secretary of state has claimed mailing out applications to all voters would lead to longer lines at the polls. but the reality is just the opposite. who cast an absentee will not a voter who be in line at the polls. state to follow this cdc guidelines so that all voters can cast their vote safely. the federal government also has a crucial role to play. the heroes act that the house packed -- house past four months ago includes $3.6 billion to get states and local governments the equipment and staff to safely administer the election. republicans should agree to allocate these funds without

further delay. the delivery for america act which was passed last month in the house, requires election mail be treated as first-class, restores mail service to previous levels, and provides $25 billion as unanimously requested by the bipartisan postal service board of governors. unfortunately, rather than play a constructive role in preparing for the election, the trump administration has sown discord, fear, and confusion. is plain -- it has been made plain that -- they have said it is plain that it would lead to voter fraud, even though it is more likely that americans would

commit voter fraud by mail. there is good reason the president has been unable to provide evidence to support his claim. there is none. safe andoting is secure. ginsberg, a leading republican lawyer agrees. today's-ed in "washington post" and titled "republicans don't have the evidence to call elections rigged." he writes -- the truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there is no proof of widespread fraud. at most, there are isolated incidents by both democrats and

republicans. elections are not rigged. absentee ballots use the same process as mail-in ballots. different states use different labels for the same process. end of his quote. now warning against fraud, the president is calling on his supporters to vote twice. saying voters -- and i quote -- send them in early and then go out and vote, and of quote. i hope all my colleagues here will join me and mr. ginsberg in rejecting that advice and urging americans to follow the law and

vote only once. supporting a free, fair, and safe election should not be a partisan issue. and i am hopeful that we can use today's hearings to agree on common sense solutions to their safericans and grit -- and their sacred right to vote. i will now yield to my friend, the english ranking member, for his opening remarks. you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you having this hearing and appreciate our witnesses being here. i would like to start by sending my prayers and support to the people of southwest louisiana, including lake charles, who are still recovering from the devastation of hurricane laura. i personally went and witnessed this, met with local officials

along with president trump. they have a long way to go, everybody is standing with them and we will continue to stand with those strong, resilient people in southwest louisiana to help as they rebuild their homes and communities. let'syou and with that, talk about today's hearing. let me first the clear -- every american legally eligible to vote will have that opportunity on november 3 and is strongly encouraged to exercise their right to vote as well. each state runs their elections, as we know, and it is our duty to ensure our elections are unfairly, freely, and safely. one of the ways we must protect every american's right to vote is to ensure the integrity of their vote, to make sure that integrity is preserved by rooting out voter fraud, which is well documented. we must also ensure every

american who wants to safely vote in person will have that right. i urge all members on a bipartisan basis to convey that message to the american people. the 2020 elections will be conducted safely, freely, and fairly and we urge all those who are eligible to participate. into this covid-19 pandemic, the american people have reminded the world about what it means to be an american. our constitutional rights sacred. a pandemic will not stand in the way of americans exercising our first amendment rights. americans still have the right to peaceably assemble and peacefully protest. americans must also have the ability to exercise our religious freedom and the right to worship as we believe. as with previous pandemics, like the spanish flu of 1918 or military wars, or times of

unrest, america will confidently go to the polls in november. i've spent a good part of august traveling the country and talking with voters, republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians. americans are ready and they are motivated to vote. they deserve to hear from leaders in both parties that the elections will be held safely and fairly. instead of urging losing candidates to refuse to concede, which unfortunately we have heard recently as some are suggesting, or trying to change laws in ways that would drag out the result for weeks and weeks after election night, we need to ensure state laws which have been debated and honed over years are respected and allowed to be implemented fairly and efficiently. what people do not want to hear is one political party attempting to take advantage of a pandemic to try to ram through their partisan election scheme that has nothing at all to do with this coronavirus.

let's listen to the experts and let's follow the science. the unanimous opinion of our top public health expert is that in posen -- in person voting can be done safely. people could go safely to vote in person during this pandemic, dr. fauci said, and i quote "i think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there's no reason i can see why that would not be the case. there's no reason we shouldn't be able to vote in person or otherwise." on august 20, the center for disease control and prevention director, dr. robert redfield, announced the cdc put out guidance on how to safely vote in person. stated "people can social distance and wear masks, and with the recommendations we have for hygiene, we do not see there is going to be a negative impact on your ability to vote from a public health perspective

. i know i'm going to vote face to face." 22,n interview on august dr. deborah birx said "i can tell you it has been safe for me to go to starbucks and pick up my order, so if you can go into starbucks in the middle of texas and alabama and mississippi that have very high case rates, then i can't say it would be different waiting in line in the polls." a recent report from the brennan center for justice says "in person voting can be conducted safely if jurisdictions take the necessary step to minimize the risk of transmission of covid-19 to voters and election workers." i hope all of my colleagues will take the opportunity to highlight cdc's guidance for safe, in person voting.

cdc put out these really good guidelines showing you how to safely do this, just like safely going to school. you can educate people in person, some are choosing to do it, some are choosing to deny those kids that opportunity and we have talked about this and that -- talked about that in this committee will stop i would urge we follow the guidelines for safely voting in person. there are a lot of options, you can request a mail-in ballot, you can vote early, or you can go vote in person, as many want to do. we ought to be promoting those guidelines. examples cdcof the put out. ensure publications are adequately staffed to cover sick workers. provide hand sanitizer for use at each step in the voting process. encourage voters to use masks while in the polling location. here is mine -- you will appreciate the colors. i will send you one extra -- i know you've got one of your own. post signs in highly visible locations that promote everyday protective measures remind voters to leave space between themselves and others.

toe plans to manage lines ensure social distancing. these are in those guidelines and if we follow those, you can safely vote in person. of march,beginning when president trump declared a national emergency due to the pandemic, 37 different states plus the district of columbia have successfully held statewide primaries for president or their own state office. i personally voted into different elections we have had in last few months in the state of louisiana. i did it in person. it was a safe experience. i brought my son with me as i normally do. we ring our children with the so they can see this great democratic process and there was never a worry. i wore my mask, so did the poll workers, it was a very smooth process. i would encourage people to do that. wisconsin held a very successful election at the height of the

pandemic on april 7. a peer-reviewed study published the american journal of that inealth concluded voting in wisconsin's election by more than 400,000 did not produce a detectable surgeon coronavirus cases. -- america is ready to go vote. many states vote absentee ballot or request mail ballots. these procedures have been in place for each state that does it. they all handle it a little differently, but those have been worked through years so they know how to do it properly, safely, efficiently. we should inspire confidence in .hose procedures there is simply no

todemic-related reason change the way we vote in 2020. given the topic of today's hearing, ensuring a free, fair, and safe election during the corona pandemic, we can stop right there. we know how to do it. states are doing it. we should help them do it. but our democrat colleagues do not want to join with us to send that bipartisan message. they want to go back to -- thisg a bill, hr one is something democrats have been promoting since last year, long doese this pandemic, that all kinds of things to mandate states change the way most of them do business, requiring things most states don't want to do, haven't done because they make elections less safe. they reduce the integrity of elections. mandate ballots be registered -- be mailed to all registered voters. that, as i outlined, is dangerous. a review by judicial watch in early 2020 found 370 eight different counties nationwide have more registered voters than

voting age citizens. 378 counties. that is millions of ballots that would be out there illegally. who knows what would happen with them? that is a staggering number. counties have more registered voters on their roles than voting age citizens. and people say there's no opportunity for voter fraud. more than 28 million mail-in ballots went missing. went missing and the last four elections according to data collected from the election assistance commission, the federal commission that identifies more than 28 million ballots that have just gone missing. who knows where they end up? if they end up in a ballot box, as we sign other states where weeks and weeks after the election, they were still counting votes. they just kept mysteriously showing up until it changed the outcome of an election. do we really want to go to that level where there are millions of ballots, 28 million ballots

that literally went missing. those are staggering numbers we should be concerned about as we want to promote fair, free, safe elections. that is what we should be focused on. we don't want a recipe for disaster where we literally would be counting ballots weeks and weeks later that would be showing up from who knows where as we saw in states, we sought in florida, we thought in california, in new jersey, people are going to jail for voter fraud. in the end, why don't we put our focus on helping the states conduct their efficient, free, and safe elections for all americans who are legally eligible to vote. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. i yelled back. chair clyburn: i think the ranking member for yielding back. and now i would like to introduce our witnesses. we first welcome kerry washington. levels,vism spans many

serving as a cochair of the nonprofit organization, when we all vote and producing the document he "inside look" legal battles for civil rights to work at the ground level. to encourage voters to cast their ballot. havee also honored to kristin clark, president and director of a committee for civil rights under the law. we are also grateful to be by the president of the texas civil rights project. by a -- thejoined assistant professor of medicine at the medical university of south carolina. the global health

committee of the infectious disease society of america. she was one of the primary forors of the guidelines healthy, in person voting. havei understand you recently joined the faculty at the university of south carolina, so i'm pleased to welcome you to charleston and the sixth congressional district. finally, i'm pleased to introduce the missouri secretary of state, js croft. welcome, secretary. un-mutedsses will be so we can swear the men. fascists swear them in. please raise your right hands. stopear them in

please swear that what you are to -- is the truth, the whole truth. showhem -- let the record the witnesses answered in the affirmative. without objection, your written statements will be made part of the record. thank you. we will now turn to ms. washington. you are now recognized. you,ashington: thank chairman clyburn, ranking member scully's command member's of the select subcommittee. i'm grateful for you taking the time to hear my testimony and the testimony of my fellow witnesses. i'm here not as an artist or entertainer, but as an american and an advocate who believes deeply in the power of voting. that is the reason i became the cochair of when we all vote, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing participation in

every election and it's why i'm here today. when i turned 18, my mother and father took me out to dinner in the bronx, where i grew up, not just to celebrate my birthday, but to celebrate the fact i was old enough to vote. my parents never took their vote for granted. they believe it is a sacred obligation and it is. not too long ago, an 18-year-old black woman would not have been able to vote for many reasons. as you know, the legal age of voting used to be 21 years old, so you could get shipped off to war without having any say in who your commander-in-chief is. as you know, women were denied the vote. we only just celebrated our 100th anniversary of women earning that right. and of course, it used to be that black people in this country could not vote. when our constitution was written, are fending fathers designated black americans to be worth 3/5 the value of a human being. as an 18-year-old black woman, i voted and i will proudly vote

this november because we all share the right and responsibility to vote in order to shape this democracy and bring us closer to a more perfect union. our ancestors fought to widen the circle of people who could vote and now, on our watch, it is at serious risk of contracting. as you all know, there are many reasons for this. from gerrymandering to voter roll purges -- in georgia, more than 300 thousand names were purged from voter rolls last year alone. a study found 63% of those names, nearly 200,000 american citizens in georgia, were some may call that a mistake, but it is impossible to ignore there exists a strategic effort to disenfranchise voters, that is what we are up against. like people's experiences of voter suppression have always been the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, if we do not

direct those expenses, we are at risk of losing our democracy for everyone. all of that was true before covid-19, we are now facing a perfect storm of circumstances that will make it harder for people to vote, in the lead up the- in the lead up to vote, we have the opportunity to make voting more easier and fair, many states are taking action, we need others to follow their lead. as members of this subcommittee i believe there are three things you can do to help states meet the challenges they are facing. first, you can make your voices louder than the voices of leaders who disparage voting by mail, while voting by mail themselves. you can tell the people that using these and other methods to vote is not fraud, it is their right. second, you can appropriate more money for so -- election administration so that states

can run polling sites safely and afford voting counting machines. nonpartisan granted center for justice recommended that congress make at least 4 billion available. finally, many of you have paid tribute to congressman john lewis since his passing, i believe, the single best way to honor congressman lewis's legacy is to continue to fight for the expansion of the voting rights act. in closing, i would like to speak directly to american voters, i note that this is a time of great uncertainty and you may wonder how best to make your voice heard at this moment. voting is how you make your voice heard in these halls of power. i can tell you there are more options than ever to cap -- cast your ballot. it is important that you vote, that you vote early, that you encourage or friends, family,

and neighbors to vote early as well. that is how we fight voter suppression by exercising our rights to vote and voting for representatives who represent our best interest. today, i am here asking our representatives in congress to do everything in their power to make our election safe and secure, but we must also do our part. we cannot sit this one out, so please make a plan, do not wait until november, you were vote matters. you matter. thank you, again. thank you very much, miss washington. , you are now recognized. dir. clarke: ranking members on the coronavirus crisis, my name is kristen clark and i serve as the executive director of the lawyers committee for civil rights under law, thank you for the opportunity to testify on

the actions that must be taken to ensure a successful election during the pandemic. the lawyers committee for civil rights has been at the forefront of the battle for equal rights since its founding in 1963 at the request of president kennedy to enlist the private bars leadership and resources in combating racial disco nation, simply put, our mission is to ensure equal justice under the rule of law. we have been a leader in many of our nation's most seminal voting rights battles and we also lead election protection. the nation's largest -- largest and longest running voter production program anchored by the 866-hour vote hotline. since march we have filed two doesn't lawsuit stupor -- to protect the but -- right to vote. i am here to sound the alarm of the dangers we face as a

democracy should we fail to fully confront the barriers that millions face amid the pandemic. nearly 200,000 americans have lost their lives. a disproportionate number of them are black, latino, and elderly. the primary season makes painfully clear that many states are simply not really -- ready for the general election, state need resources, guidelines, and reforms to get this right. turned oute, voters in homemade face masks and plastic argent -- garbage barks. ,n georgia, pulsars opened late in texas and florida we saw severe full worker shortages since bold -- older americans declined to serve. nowstance is needed right to pull voters back from the brink of disenfranchisement. thisge congress to provide

$3.6 billion in funding needed to ensure that states have the resources necessary to conduct the selection. -- this election. many are in distress, the call for this has been bipartisan and it is needed to address pull worker shortages to ensure ppe -- in polling sites. we also need congress to fund the u.s. postal service so that they can handle the millions of a vote by mail ballots expected this season. we have sued the postal service over great concerns regarding 11th hour policy changes made under postmaster general louis dejoy's watch. that is ongoing, congressional oversight is critical, too. inaction at the justice department when it comes to voting rights, we need congress

to set baseline protections for states. at this stage, all states should be providing no excuse absentee voting. earlyst two weeks of voting and meaningful voting options on election day, but many officials have failed to adequately respond to the pandemic or lack the resources to do so. sadly, georgia is the poster child for this dysfunction which has led to a widescale disenfranchisement especially of black voters. last-minute polling changes, poor staffing, the use of an out-of-state under who made multiple errors in the handling of absentee ballots. voters who just never received their absentee ballots that all riddled the georgia primary. extension inll our several counties and sued to secure an extension and we do not need a repeat of this in

november. in wisconsin, thousands of voters did not receive their absentee ballots and the problems were especially acute in milwaukee where poll sites were reduced from 180 25 leading --ers standing in five leading voters standing for hours without assistance. these are widespread and systemic. issuedonse, the cdc common sense guidance for states civilligns with the rights community. we applaud of those states that have already taken action to vote during this pandemic by eliminating barriers by voting by mail. foring in place drop boxes ballots, extending early voting days, relaxing deadlines, hiring a next generation of poll workers, investing in a new election infrastructure, and

providing voter education so that voters know their options and their rights. some states have not yet implemented those recommendations and we urge that they do so immediately. the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. 12 days ago i stood at the lincoln memorial to commemorate the 1963 march on washington. the tie that binds those who attended this march -- profound belief in the power of having your voice heard by your election officials. confronts ation perfect storm resulting from an unprecedented pandemic, the stress from ongoing police and racial violence, we must ensure that all americans have voice at the ballot box this season. thank you. : thank you very

much, ms. clark, we now turn to --maziani.army thank you, i appreciate the good work of my fellow witnesses. i am the president of the texas civil rights project and i've been asked to update the preparation on the for the state of texas during -- november election. unfortunately, and as detailed in my written testimony, state officials are failing to serve -- to fulfill their obligations. worse, taxes and texans will not be equally impacted by their choices, instead, our black and latinx communities who

are already struggling from higher rates of code infections, who bear the brunt of this suppression. i want to highlight two key areas where texas has bucked guidance from cdc and other experts. first, texas has fought tooth and nail against any expansion of voting by mail. today, texas is just one of six states that has failed to open up remote voting options even after multiple lawsuits and reprimands from a both state and federal judges. only a lawyer can love the texas final- supreme court's confusing word on the subject, the court told us that every voter must decide for herself as she -- if she is eligible to claim a disability. can be immunity to covid one criteria, but not the full criteria, election officials are supposed to take the voter at the word. once she checked that box confirming that she has a did is

-- disability that makes voting in person dangerous to her health. election officials have been left to deal with the wreckage. voters have to navigate a confusing standard and a clunky, decentralized system that was not the four pandemic level needs. in addition, multiple legal barriers potentially block mail-in ballots from being counted. this includes a prohibition on drop boxes which forces voters to primarily rely on the overwhelmed postal service. this includes the requirement of a certified doctors note, but only for voters who get sick within 10 days of election day. that discriminatory laws ballotcal partisan voters unfettered power to deem your signature invalid and to trash your ballot without even giving you a chance. officials also

have to navigate this complex legal web, while preparing to ate -- for what will still be surge of voting by mail and this is all without any help of guidance from the state. that is not quite right. there is one official who has been very outspoken about voting by mail, our attorney general ken paxton who also served as cochair of the civil lawyers for the trump organization has repeatedly threatened to prosecute voters and civil society organizations for running afoul of these bewildering vote by mail rules. this abuse of power is a shockingly inappropriate. combined with this texas supreme court standard, paxton's threats were -- will almost certainly scare away voters with serious health conditions. particularly voters of color who have been targeted by this community in the past.

week, paxton did use the power of his office to limit mail-in voting, he sued local stop them from sending vote by mail applications to registered voters even though officials often plan to send elegant -- eligibility guidance, he constraints from that texas supreme court decision. taken some texas has steps to make in person voting safe and accessible, most notably by adding an additional week of in person voting and needs to be commended for doing so. here is my second point, the states approached to polling places and poll workers is not enough. for instance, state officials have been silent about the need to increase the overall number of available polling places despite the cdc recommendations to do just about. troublingrticularly given the track record, since

the 2015 supreme court decision free ofuld leave taxes any oversight, texas only has 150 polling locations. sadly, the laces were black and latinx publishers are growing faster are the places where they have expressed the vast majority of these closures. does before the covid pandemic that further complications of voting. we heard from the chairman that arer -- fewer voting places leading to longer wait times, in those long lines we saw on super , they lasted seven hours. november, those lines can't be dealt with. [indiscernible] the state can and should take immediately to mitigate this route concern -- this concern.

time for texas to step up to this moment, i would be happy to answer any questions you have. rep. clyburn: thank you very much. ippali, you to dr. k are new constituent of mine, i want to make sure you are -- i am pronouncing your name correctly. dr. kuppalli: yes, you are. rep. clyburn thank you, you are now recognized. dr. kuppalli: thank you for the committee for the opportunity to testify before you today, i am externally grateful for your interest and commitment toward helping support the novel efforts in in these the united states as we attempt to contain this disease and make sure we have a safe election for all citizens on november 3. on behalf of the infectious disease society of america, i

work closely with the center for voting for protecting which i'll discuss today. with over 40,000 cases of coronavirus today across the united states, we must take bold steps to limit human transmission to improve the health of our population and economic recovery of our country. nationalrespect in our response to coronavirus now, the less worse the transition will be for election day. specifically i recommend the following options, the federal government instituted a national mandate requiring the use of masks or face coverings, expanding contact tracing capacity, increase the supply of disparities,health and provide support for individuals in isolation and quarantine including sick, food, and access to medical care. in this era of covid-19, health concerns have the potential to skew voter participation in less we provide a viable in person voting.

additional options should be made available including mail-in voting, longer voting, more polling locations, ballot drop boxes, and more voting. for those individuals who would prefer to vote in person, the following recommendations are based on evidence from science and public health to minimize risks. first, a uniform, evidenced based health message about what voters should expect at bowling site is critical. messaging should emphasize that hand hygiene, distancing, and safe -- face masks that cover the nose and mouth are important in preventing the transmission of coronavirus. shouldn officials consider the following, polling available told be everybody to avoid overcrowding the number of polling locations should be increased. polling locations should be

relocation -- relocated from senior living facilities to protect older adults who are at risk. relocated tould be a well ventilated areas that can accommodate the necessary physical distancing measures. there should be plans to minimize lines and there should be unidirectional flow into and out of the location with a liminal -- limited number of entrances and exits. it should be cleaned with an epa approved disinfectant, special attention should be given to places.ssure -- people should be given disinfectant wipes so they can sanitize the services. possible,- where voters should be provided with disposable pens and all voting locations should have supplies to support healthy hygiene.

there are actions individual voters should take as well to memorize the risk of transmission well voting -- while voting. if a person is unable to vote by for, they should check other voting options. check for special requirements prior to attending the sites. they should use hand sanitizer and -- in each step of the voting process and they should arrive to the polling location alone, early, and be prepared to wait. aey should try to vote during clear time such as the midmorning. we know there will be sick individuals present on election day, for these people, alternative voting options should be provided to minimize the exposure of a voters and poll workers to coronavirus. designated be a polling site or curbside voting and we should also consider

having on-site testing available for sick individuals. [indiscernible] remainment of porkers, should be scaled up and jurisdiction should be used to recruit porkers especially at low risk populations. all porkers should be trained on how to use ppe and individuals should be -- concerned about the snow health care should consult their health care providers. after election day there should be -- [indiscernible] the current pandemic is an unprecedented event in our lifetime, a free, fair, and safe election can be achieved with for ansan support evidence-based approach to the voting process. we encourage proactively coming up with an election plan, nobody should have to choose between

the right to vote or to be healthy. we have the evidence, knowledge, and science to keep our public because we must use it one a new infection is one too many, thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you and i look forward to answering your questions. rep. clyburn: thank you very much, dr. we would hear from secretary ashcroft, secretary you are now recognized. you ashcroft: thank distinguished members of the committee for the opportunity to virtually join you today for this important distraction -- discussion regarding the coronavirus. i would also like to thank the other witnesses, and though i did not think to put it in my comments when i was trying to do them last night as i was traveling, i want to especially thank the staff for the work they must've done, i'm sure that both on the minority and majority side there were staffers that worked over there vacation time to do this and set

this up, i really appreciate their hard work. i would like to thank congressman blaine luetkemeyer who is my representative in the united states house of representatives. my name is jay ashcroft on is my honor to serve as missouri's 40th secretary of state. as secretary of state i am the designated chief election officer for the state. in 2020, looking officials have already held three successful elections since covid-19 began. the presidential preference primary in march, local elections were postponed from april to june, and the august primary election. missouri elections are administered by our 116 local election authorities who are elected or appointed and they -- make all logistical decisions. this includes a number of polling places needed, porkers, how many face shields, tables, chairs, and bottles of hand sanitizers are needed. in fact, during two weeks in may

i drove more than 5000 miles and visited every one of missouri's election officials to distribute more than 17,000 face masks, 17,000 face shields, 40,000 distancing trips and more than 500 gallons of hand sanitizer. by all counts, our officials have done a wonderful job sanitizing polling places and voting areas, providing physical distancing, and looking for creative solutions to improve traffic to voting locations. other states may have difficulties with having adequate polling places, but that has not been a problem in missouri. some of our officials have actually increased the number of polling places and others have moved to larger facilities to provide for better foot traffic and provide adequate space for physical distancing. missouri election officials have promoted curbside voting and have even tested the logistics of drive-thru voting. i have been impressed with the forethought and commitment to

ensuring the health of voters and porkers alike. like -- pollwor kers alike. milwaukee election officials reduced the number of polling places from 180 down to five, they examined the rate of covid transmission following that election, in fact, the data showed a decrease in covid infection in the two weeks following the election. does saying that voting that to covid, but the data shows there was. no increase . in addition to making election safe, in 28 teen -- 2018 i proposed a lot to reduce the lines for voters on the u.s. postal service. ofsked to allow in email their absentee ballot request instead of having to mail it in and i asked them to move the

deadline to request an absentee ballot earlier by one week to reduce the likelihood that service issues would affect a person's right to vote. thankfully, those changes were passed and signed into law, that said, i have concerns about promoting the use of mail-in ballots. it is not a perfect system, what we see in missouri and nationally is that in every election, at least 2%-3% of ballots received by mail are rejected. did notrs signature match, maybe the ballot scan did not properly read the ballot, for every 50 ballots cast by voters, at least one of them, statistically, does not count. for every 50 of those voters, one of them is disenfranchised. i will encourage voting in person, it is safe, and it guarantees that your vote will count. elections matter, both matter, each one that is cast should be counted.

in every election there is an instance in which a candidate won by only a few votes, we have seen this in missouri, notably in kansas city in 2010. we have seen blatant absentee ballot fraud in st. louis in 2016, so much so that it required a second election which changed the outcome of the election. i cannot speak for other states, but in missouri we have proven three times in 2020 with cooperation from voters, we have -- we can have a successful in person voting on election day. i encourage voters elsewhere to protect the integrity of voters elections, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today. thank you very much, sec. ashcroft and thanks to all of our witnesses today. into a.ow going to move of questions and answers. ofh member -- a period

questions and answers. each member is going to be allowed five minutes to ask questions and receive answers. by me giving myself five minutes. expressing are tremendous fear, i hear from them every day and i assume many of you do as well. withstates do better masking and social distancing than others. fear and the the discouragement that a lot of people have received in the primary season when they found out at the last minute that there polling places have been closed. and of course, a lot of system russian tactics -- a lot of

suppression tactics that have been used. case saysth carolina that they performed with almost surgical precision in carrying out their suppression. now, miss washington, you have spoken directly with voters in communities of color to encourage them to vote. what concerns are you hearing from voters and what is your message today to voters who are wondering how they can vote safely? thank you, chairman clyburn, i've spent time in michigan and virginia and quite a few places in our country. i think in this environment, what voters want to know is what opportunities they will have to vote and whether their votes will be counted. ,t varies from state to state no matter where you live, voters

should have safe options to vote and to be educated on what those options are. i would say to voters today that i in doing my part by being here speaking with the committee, the committee, you are doing your part by listening and hopefully taking action. ourrs did -- needs to do part as well, but his need to check registration status, find out what the deadlines are, figure out whether early voting is an option and then make a plan to vote. if i may add, a helpful way to do all of that is visiting vote.org, it is a nonpartisan website that tells voters everything they need to go -- know about how to vote. rep. clyburn: thank you, miss washington, i noticed you mentioned michigan and virginia, if memory serves, i think your roots are in south carolina. -- are welcome to come and

your uncle was my debate coach at south carolina state and so i think you can do is a whole lot of favors by coming back to your votersnd help encourage here in south carolina as well. of miss clarke, what should state and local officials be doing now to ensure that voters are not disenfranchised in november? need to not we repeat the stakes -- mistakes from the primary season and should take lessons we learned from the primary season to ensure a successful general election in november. in short, we want to ensure providing three avenues for voters this season, we want streamlined, accessible vote by mail. -- postageted paid

paid envelopes, encourage -- applaud states making this process easy by automatically mailing ballots to registered voters. in addition to streamlining the absentee ballot process, we want at least two weeks of expanded, in person early voting. we know for many voters in our country, particularly for voters of color, the experience of a voting in person is deeply important. having expansive, early voting opportunities is critical. that right, we will ease the burden that election officials face on election day itself. wheret an election day voters are not subject to long lines. ablent to ensure they are to socially distance, we want to ensure they know where to vote given many of the last-minute polling place changes this season. can, congressman, i am

sharing an image from atlanta during the primary season. ofs was a long line outside park tavern in atlanta on june 9. these are voters who waited for , wes to cast their ballot do not want this this season. right byge to get it providing expensive early voting opportunities and getting vote by mail right. sec. ashcroft i thece you mentioned that legislator responded very positively to your suggestions about how we might enhance early and absentee voting. did you use any of the money to help support that?

we took about half of the money we received with the latest cares act money to help with elections however they thought was best. making sure they had ppe, plexiglas shields, more poll workers so we would not have to reduce polling places. we held back about half of it to pay for the cost of the increased use of absentee and mail ballots so the local election authorities do not have to bear that burden so we can bear that for them because we expect more persons -- more people to use non-in person voting, sir. rep. clyburn: you would say you new able to carry out these proceedings at no cost to the state? sec. ashcroft: there is some cost to the state, there is a match of 20% of cares funding, but we have not seen it as binning -- being an insurmountable burden.

missouri does not need more federal funding, if we were to get more now we would not be able to use it well because we do not have enough money -- time to implement any sort of changes that would do that. what congress could do if they wanted is to make a commitment to backstop if there are overages of costs for states that we do not foresee now after the election, sir. rep. clyburn: thank you, very much, my time is expired. mr. ranking member, you are now recognized for five minutes. thank you mr. chairman, i want to start by thanking all of the poll workers, every time i go to the polls we always get to know our poll workers there, they are usually our neighbors and they come in early. whether you are a six in the late hours, they work those hours to help us carry out this great democracy

that our country enjoys. for years we have seen a shortage coming i know in our secretary of state -- our secretary of state has talked about this in louisiana, it seemed like some of the poll workers that are getting older, there is not as many as young people coming in. maybe we can encourage young people to become poll workers because that is something we have had an issue with. i want to thank those poll workers who have done this year in and year out and we will be doing this again in november. i want to start with ms. washington because i do not know if you knows it or not, but she and i actually are linked together in history. we both had roles in the movie rate which was filmed in louisiana -- ray which was filmed in louisiana, i think her role might've been larger than mine. congratulations, you did a great job, thank you for coming

to louisiana and being a part of making that movie and for the work that you do to encourage people to vote, i think it is important. however people are going to vote, we should all be encouraging people to exercise the right to vote. those options are therefore important reasons, they are debated heavily in state legislatures so a secretary of state can carry that out properly. i think we need to encourage people, there has never been more opportunity to legally vote and exercise your right to carry out this franchise that our country uses. thank you for the work you're are doing, ms. washington. you, and thank you for your acting. betterhave done a little in that regard, i want to ask sec. ashcroft, you have been carrying out the job that all secretaries of state do so well.

as a secretary of state of louisiana has needed for years especially through covid, we have worked as well, too and i'm sure you have worked with blaine luetkemeyer and other members, in terms of things you need to carry out a safe election in wouldnvironment, i imagine you had expenses with primaries, what are the things you have seen that worked really well? you hear stories from other --bers, too, what are here what are you hearing from secretaries of state to make sure we can have the in person opportunity just as well as the other early voting opportunities >> ? sec. ashcroft: it is a logistical exercise, how to get them to a location and securely count them, we follow the cdc guidelines to keep them safe. have crippling workers, remind people to keep their distance, we reached out to manufacturers

on how to disinfect their equipment, it is common sense -- guidelineshose cdc we talked about earlier, these deadlines from cdc that they put out. now i want to bring you to another point which is a big concern for a lot of people and that is the integrity of the vote. we encourage everyone who is legally eligible to vote, if somebody does cast a ballot illegally, it undermines the integrity of our vote and i think that is the other part of his that we cannot just ignore. i know some people try to minimize it or say it does not happen, we know it happened. there are cases in new york just last year, people bribed nonresidents to falsely register and vote. in pennsylvania you had an individual who is picking people up and convinced them to fill out applications for deceased people.

in maryland, a nun a citizen was found guilty of a voting in multiple--10 different federal elections. rooting out voting fraud is important, making sure we at the federal level do not force states to do anything that would undermine their integrity of their elections is important as well, we talked about the 28 million ballots that have gone missing in los angeles county, there is just a court order where there were forced to remove 1.5 million people who were on their roles illegally. the court made them remove them because if you got that opportunity for fraud, it happens, what have you seen especially with other secretaries you have talked to? sec. ashcroft: we see vote fraud occur from people paying people to register, people changing ballots, we had the statehouse rates where we had to have a new election in the city of state -- st. louis where a judge looked

andhe allegations of voters the election was totally different when it was done correctly and a different won.idual one -- the chair now recognizes ms. waters for five minutes. thank you very much, mr. chairman, i am pleased that you are holding this hearing today. it is so important that we put as much time and effort into encouraging people to vote and encouraging them to have options. issued guidance for preventing the spread of covid-19 during elections. the cdc recommended that state and local election officials, " offer alternative voting methods that minimize direct on --

contact and reduce crowd size at polling locations." voting by mail is the safest option for avoiding the health risk associated with in person voting during this pandemic. several jurisdictions are prepared to accommodate widespread voting by mail. homexample, this fall, my state of california will mail every registered voter a ballot based on lessons learned from expanded mail-in voting during the march memory, california has implemented a statewide tool to allow voters to track their mailed ballot and receive notifications about its status including whether there are any issues that need to be resolved. additionally, california counties will have more time to process mail-in ballots and ensure and accurate count. that my friend miscarried washington --

rrycarry back -- miss ke washington is here today. i thank her for encouraging people to vote and insisting people have alternatives. whenever we have called on her on our community is to assist us in any way, she has been so generous and i want to thank you, kerry for being here today. havestates like california decided to expand voting by mail during the pandemic, some states have and lamented lessees that did -- denied millions of voters the opportunity to vote by mail and thereby protect themselves and their families from exposure to coronavirus. marziati.move to miss

can you [indiscernible] mimi: absolutely, as i noted in my written testimony there has been a multi-month battle in texas around voting by mail and who is eligible. going into voting, texas was one of the states who required an excuse to vote absentee by mail and of that small subset, most other states expanded the eligibility requirements. organization saws in court and refused to do so, today we are left with the really murky system for voters to try to administer themselves. on top of that, as i said, we

have an inappropriate situation of our attorney general threatening prosecution for voters for running afoul of unclear complicated rules. have the that, you state pretending as if we are not going to see an increase in the vote by mail. in some00% increase counties in our primary elections in july in voting by mail. but the state has not issued any best practices to the counties, has not -- we have a patchwork of vendors, some counties are as i understand using their own printers to try and process these things. about toeans is we are -- i actuallyf agree with sec. ashcroft in saying that yes there is a lot

of holes in a vote by mail that , --ady exist and so [indiscernible] we layered on top of that a surge, but we have not anything to do with it. rep. waters: i want to remind us that president trump has tried to limit mail-in voting mostly claiming that it would limit -- lead to widespread fraud. this is nonsense, according to an analysis by m.i.t. over the past 20 years there have been absentee voterof fraud out of 250 million votes cast by mail. are you aware of any incidences -- [indiscernible]

dir. clarke: it is notable that president trump himself just voted absentee in the state of florida, his wife has voted absentee, ivanka and jared kushner have a voted absentee, william barr has voted absentee. absentee voting dates back to the 19 century in our country where we allowed people during wartime the opportunity to cast their vote by mail. 143 ballots over 20 years, that % of fraud..00006 we should not be disenfranchising millions of americans given our countries -- country's track record the dates back to the 19th century to allow americans to have their voice heard by mail. rep. clyburn: thank you very

much, the young ladies time has expired, the chair now recognizes for five minutes mr. tkemeyer.r -- mr. lue thank you, andr: today's topic is quite telling. committee -- right after the select committee was formed we asked to hold a hearing on the origin of the virus which of course is china and the ccp's actions which allete -- allowed the virus to spread to the world. the committee now lacks a mandate to review the origin of the virus, fast-forward a couple months and in some communities it is so stickley a limited that it lacks the ability to discuss where the virus came from and now has jurisdiction over elections. if there ever was a question as to whether this committee was politically focused, this is making that crystal-clear.

this is not about election security but about my colleagues go toot spread fear and show doubt in the results of this year's elections. it is about spreading misinformation and manufactured crises raining from -- ranging from supposed sabotage of the postal service to the changers of it -- dangers of in person voting. pleaseditive note, i am to welcome sec. ashcroft of my home state and discuss the success he has experienced with election integrity. his leadership has strengthened voter laws well expressing record voter turnout. safelyters are doing it and in person. you mentioned in march 2020 in the presidential primary that missouri sought 16% increase in voter participation, the highest amount of the state has ever had with an incumbent resident on

the ticket. -- wasis leads to an 8 this due to an expansion of mail-in ballots? sec. ashcroft: no it was not. many of theeyer: members say that if you increase security, you suppress voters. that is not the case in the missouri, we discussed what the law did for voter participation? sec. ashcroft: in 2016, the state passed an amendment to allow id to be required for voters, since the laws been passed we have provided free photo ids to those who need them along with the underlying document and we no longer have people being turned away when they vote because they cannot prove their identity. every election we have at least a handful that would've been turned away under the old lob, but now they are allowed to vote and the vote counts. rep. luetkemeyer: one of the things of the male in ballots, it seems there is an increased

and the number of folks that voted that way, do you believe this will cause a delay in the election results? sec. ashcroft: it is possible, we are doing everything we can to stop the delay, they take more time to count. rep. luetkemeyer: what kind of actions are you taking or things that you are thinking about to be able to minimize that delay? sec. ashcroft: we are making sure we have more two person teams, it republican and democrat to go through those ballots and we are having those five start at the limit days before the election, depending on what we're seeing we will have results delayed. rep. luetkemeyer: do you believe as a top election authority in , and as the chairman of the organization, do you believe by the delaying of election results that people would lose faith in the integrity of our voting process? sec. ashcroft: yes, i do, and

when they do that, they are less likely to participate. when we scare people needlessly we cause voter disenfranchisement. rep. luetkemeyer: a while ago there was -- i think you mentioned there were 2%-3% of male and votes are rejected, -- male in votes are rejected, that would lead to a problem with process, somewhere something goes wrong with it. sec. ashcroft: the best way to make sure your vote counts is voting in person, you do not have to worry about organization or signatures, if there is a problem with your ellet, you may correct it. rep. luetkemeyer: one of the concerns i had a while ago, there are 378 counties that have more registered voters than they have citizens. group,chairman of that is there a program in place,

what were the actions, if any, to try and minimize that situation? sec. ashcroft: i know individual secretaries in my party have been working to make sure that totals are clean so that it is fast and easy for voters as possible. rep. luetkemeyer: i have a question, with regards to fraud georgia-in ballots, in they had a bet 1000 people that had a problem with -- about 1000 people that had a problem with voter fraud, is that correct? sec. ashcroft: there is concern with that, we had election -- an election overturned four years ago where the candidate lost by 2%, the judge looked at the they redid itts, and the previous loser one --

won. rep. luetkemeyer: a chairman said it is more likely to be struck by lightning than to have voting by fraud, i am not sure that is true. [indiscernible] i understand my republican friends sometimes have a problem with that, the chair now recognize -- -- for five minutes. >> can you hear me now? this year we should be talking not just about election day, but about election month since millions of americans are expected to vote early.

many states have expanded early voting, but there is much more to do. eight states still do not call for in person early voting, only half of the states allowing early voting on the weekends, others offer fewer than two weeks of early voting or limited voting hours. the pandemic is still killing hundreds of americans each day, cdc guidelines state election consider should increasing the number of polling locations available for early voting and extending the hours of the operation. doctor, why's is it so important for states to follow public health guidance and expand early voting? it is important for states to follow public health guidance and to move to early voting, we want to limit the number of crowds on election

day and by expanding early voting, this allows people to vote at different times and that will number the -- will limit to the number of lines on election day. we know that with coronavirus, the duration and intensity of indoor exposure can increase the risk of getting the disease. -- why we wantl to increase the availability of alternative methods of voting. voting canu, early reduce lines on election day making sure that everyone has an opportunity to cast their ballot. nana spent consent to enter into the record and opinion that reducing early voting in north carolina would lead to quote longer lines, increased wait times, understaffed polling locations and other problems. rep. clyburn: without objections. >> thank you, thank you.

i would like to give a special rry washington, i know she is from california, but she is also from the city and state of new york and we are so proud of all of your efforts to expand voter rights and participation. why, miss washington, our long lines on election day problem and what are you doing to help encourage voters to make sure that they cast their ballots? for thehank you question, i went to high school in your district. know those long lines can be so exciting, it can be exciting to see so many people participating, but the fact is long lines can be challenging. a person's ability to make their choice, to make their voice heard should not depend on their

ability to wait in line. some abilities -- some americans are differently abled, some have children learning from home and they are unable to leave, some will have to give abe shift at their job -- give up a shift at their job, so it is really important to support early and absentee voting. thiscans need options in moment of uncertainty, the 2020 election is not -- it should not stop for covid-19 so we need to make sure that voters have plenty of options to effectively cast their ballots. with respect to the quote about lighting, that was referenced from a nonpartisan brennan center for justice, that was also referenced earlier by ranking member scully's -- scalise. thank you, in texas, governor

greg abbott expended the -- expanded the voting by over a week, yet state like florida have refused to expand voting. carryate doing enough to out the cdc's recommendation to expand early voting hours, if not, what more should they be doing? >> states are not doing enough, this pandemic has upended life in every respect. -- work anded life how we go to school, and we need officials to do more. i want to talk about the congressman's state of louisiana where african-americans have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. we make up about 32% of the population, but 50% of deaths 15 while there are about days for early voting during the

primary season, that will be reduced by almost half to seven for the general election subjecting people to greater risk. no voters should have to choose between their health and exercising their right to vote. the good state of missouri right now, webster university is actively recruiting notaries because there are certain voters who have to have their absentee ballots notarized in order for those ballots to count. in the good state of tennessee, my organizational lawyers for civil rights under law is suing because the state literally criminalizes people for the act of distributing absentee ballot applications. there is so much more that states can do across the board so the unnecessary, restrictive, discriminatory, and unconstitutional barriers that people face amid the current pandemic. rep. clyburn: your time has

expired. >> thank you. rep. clyburn: the chair now recognizes every american is eligible to vote -- who is eligible to vote should have the belt counted. that bout should be absolutely accurate. this notion that we need a federal universal voting mandate is just an attempt to use the coronavirus crisis to receive another partisan and. votingci has stated that

in person can be done safely. not only that, we have seen it several times, in april. called it a moral atrocity. do you know what happened? --pite the high probably hyperbole, there was no surge in cases or deaths attributable to in person voting in wisconsin --r the course -- there was no surge in cases or death, proving over and over again that voting in person can be done safely. if the science says in person voting can be done safely, the last thing we need is for the do mail-inernment to

voting. democrats have cheered as thousands of people took to the streets in protest. those very same democrats are telling everybody it is too dangerous to vote in person. you can't have it both ways. dr. fauci said in person voting carries the same risk as a trip to the grocery store and if we are talking about if it is safe the grocery store or starbucks, it is safe to go and vote in person. we have rejected the mail-in voting and instead allowing early in person voting for 28 days before the election in order to reduce lines and exposure. this is the hoosier common sense we need. i am grateful that her secretary has stood by that to maintain our safe elections. today that witness

has actually ran an election, -- are all ofware your polling places able to operate under those guidelines? >> we are aware of those. we disseminate those two election authorities, we get them what they need. anybody that believes that any vote matters, if you are telling people to vote by mail, you are not believing that every vote matters. if you believe every vote matters, you should make sure your constituents will boat safely, in person so that their vote will count. one onare the only this panel that has run election. can you talk about the problems that ensue when you have the media and democrats out there telling people that if they go vote in person, it is going to kill them?

what kind of problems does that give you when you're ready for an election in your state? trueonly want to put out information to my voters so that they can make their own decision because it is there -- their vote. they say they want to protect the vote. you have to worry about whether or not you fed out that belt correctly, you have to figure out whether it was notarized correctly, if your signature matched. you don't have to worry about that in person, you get a second chance. when you vote in person, it is safe. you can run your vote through the scanner, your vote has been cast and it matters.

>> the chair now recognizes mr. foster for five minutes. tothank you, especially those who highlighted the fact that voter suppression is a problem. know, my father was a civil rights lawyer. see that theo struggle for voter enfranchisement which should be the battle of every generation is being taken up today. that am also a scientist. it is a scientific fact that it will also be -- always be safer to vote by mail than in person. of americansrity leave the should be a personal choice available to all citizens.

reports from the national academies of science and medicine have raised concerns about the risk of spreading coronavirus through the air. mr. chair, i ask unanimous consent, you may be able to readingoronavirus by new report findings. i request putting this into the record. this depends on the level of community transmission. implementingds on

the best practice polling locations. you have taken a leadership role in the infectious disease society of america to issue joint guidelines on healthy, in person voting. the is your reaction to apparently real risk of purely airborne transition -- transmission of covid-19? what does that mean for keeping voters and poll workers absolutely safe? thank you for that question. as you alluded to, we are still learning a lot about the transmission of this disease. in terms of keeping people safe, the best way to keep people safe is to decrease the rate of community transmission. the lower the rate, the safer it

will be. people will wear face masks and that will reduce transmission by 85%. those are the things we need to do. we need to get a national plan for that in advance of the election. >> no matter what guidelines you follow, there will probably never be absolutely zero. that is just a fact. life has risks, that israel. it is also important that people their personal situation is very different.

that person has a very real risk if they are forced to vote in person. they are getting the virus. is that a correct and unavoidable fact given what we know about the transmission of this virus? it is. we have to remember that people can spread this virus a symptomatically. ptomatically. everything you said is correct. we must ensure that cities and states have the resources to carry out the basic steps to protect the health of voters and election workers. congress provided a significant down payment on election funds as part of the cares act.

isn't it true that every single state requested funding under this provision there was an unmet need there? funding state requested . provide drop could boxes and staffing to handle the high volume of mail. i actually testified at a recent hearing with an official from st. louis. up. said expenses are that money might very well be put to use. we urge congress to -- thank you, i yield back.

>> hi to am concerned about the topic of election security in addition to the usual threats including cyber hacking, for interference, voter fraud. top public officials say we can conduct in person voting safely and securely as wisconsin and florida have already demonstrated. dr. birx has said that it has been safe for him to go to starbucks and pick up his order. if you can do that in the middle of texas, alabama and mississippi, i can't say that it would be different waiting in line. a recent report from the liberal leaning center said that they

can conduct this safely to minimize the transmission of covid-19 to voters and election workers. groceries, you can vote in person. if you can buy groceries online, you can ask for an absentee ballot. the effort to conflate absentee voting where a person requests a that to a compare blanket mail out of ballots to every registered voter, those are absolutely wrong. you can't conflate the two of them. there is a massive security difference between them. i urge my democrat colleagues to stop fear mongering and look at the facts. in person is not only safe but it is the most secure way to vote. vote by mail opens up our elections to all kinds of vulnerabilities in the golden state. the election integrity project has said that governor newsom willie to 458 thousand dollars.

disaster.recipe for the democrats who say voter fraud does not exist, i encourage the heritage --ndation website not only does voter fraud exist, it can affect election outcomes. we just witnessed this in 2018 in north carolina where the state board of elections unanimously ordered elections after a political operative abused the bouts. the former mayor of eatonville, making was convicted of voters cast mail in ballots for him. it is often a nailbiter. 56 elections in ohio resulted in a tie vote and 86 were decided by a single vote. last year alone, the ohio secretary of state found 18

cases of duplicate voting and refer them to prosecutors for 2018g twice in the elections. voter fraud israel. it can sway elections. the statistic is sadly instead strengthening security, democrats support mail-in voting. experiences show that mail-in ballots have -- they can be easily altered, stolen or forged. house democrats are more about winning the election than they are about election integrity. they want to centralize our elections under the all-powerful hand of the federal government. make elections even more vulnerable to foreign interference and cyber hacking. tennessee and the steps our state have taken to protect the vote of every tennessean.

we need proof of residence for first-time voters and requirements that voters be registered in the last -- in advance of election day. tennessee announced a thousand dollar reward to report voter fraud. forgethis ever to california's clearly for -- flawed system on tennessee will not be tolerated. if california wants to allow ballot harvesting in their state election, that is their business but don't try to tell tennessee what we should do. i urge my democrat colleagues to stop playing pluggable games. stop selling -- political games. stop selling distressed. wing distrust. chairman. mr.

-- history of tennessee. i am happy to know -- i am happy to let you know that i know the history of tennessee. i am also happy to tell you that all of those people that left the democratic party because of act, that is why they left. --t to remind you can i do that before my questioning? >> you can do that. >> i would like to enter this into the record. this is a political act article

from june 9, 2020. ballots andabsentee up missing or in landfills. this is a mischaracterization, it is mostly false. these ballots were mailed to voters but they recently never filled out and returned. it is more accurate to report them as uncashed or unreturned. unreturned. it is amazing to me that the president who knew that covid-19 was dead the stuff but deliberately suppressed the truth about it, said it was like the common cold and that it would magically disappear because he did not want to -- 190 thousand

dead americans later, he is trying to create a mask panic -- mass panic about election fraud when he is promoting election fraud and voter fraud, egging on his supporters to go to the pole and illegally vote twice. poll and illegally vote twice. the president and his sycophants continue to try to deflect responsibility from the president by pointing at china when it was president trump wh o on 37 different occasions defended the chinese government and president xi. all i can say is that i am with -- the minority

members. this is the president who is defending -- who has been defending the chinese government since the beginning. that ourto me colleagues are -- they keep talking about how we are demanding universal mail-in balloting. oflive in a system federalism. let's not confuse the public, let's try to help the state to deliver in these circumstances brought to us by the president of the united states. georgia told the committee that it needs 40,000 poll workers but a state program has only identified 5000. wisconsin needs 30,000 poll workers but does not think it can make that, it is provisionally planning to get help from the national guard. i want to ask ms. clark what can

--done to get full workers poll workers to the polls. workers are over the age of 60 or 70. >> we need that next generation of poll workers. that haveen so many had to bow out because they are regrettably vulnerable under the pandemic. there are civic and nonprofit organizations that are working night and day to help recruit poll workers frankly, if congress did its part and advocated that $3.6 billion to states could enhance the amount of money they give to coworkers. their efforts to encourage students, serve this season, we

need congress to do this part, put money in the hands of states. >> i appreciate that but the house majority position was that we needed $400 billion -- the gop opposed to that, we ended up with only 10% of that figure, 400 million. we continue to argue for 3.6 billion in the heroes out but the minority party continues to drag their feet because they don't want to see full funding of the election so that people can go out and cast a vote. miss washington, i would like to turn to you. what are you doing to try to encourage young people to fill the role of poll workers as many of the older poll workers are advised not to go to the polls? we know that older people are disproportionately vulnerable to this lethal disease. thank you, it is such a vital issue. i believe last week, it was

national poll worker recruitment day. it was a really strong social media campaign. find hundreds of thousands of volunteers. we are really committed to the idea of having more people work at the polls, young people. i think it is exciting not only because younger people have a different risk level when it comes to the coronavirus but also, we know that when people volunteer or get paid to work at the polls, that is extra incentive, when people get inolved, their investment their democracy increases. they feel excitement and power. overseasof our uniformed people in the military, their votes are counted they because they come in from overseas. rush is to sayxt

only the next ballots that are --nted what is the importance of making sure that we understand that election day is half time and in democracy, we count every ballot cast, including from our military people overseas who the president considers suckers and losers? elections are coming down to narrow margins. it is critical that we cast every vote. bymatter whether it is cast mail or during early voting or on election day. making sure that every american's voice is counted is critical. we had an election that was so close that it was decided by a coin toss. >> the chair recognizes mr.

velasquez for five minutes. you for this timely and important hearing. i just finished my congressional hearing. able to get back to ask some questions. the witnesses on this important , the -- this is clark closures during the 2020 how does, disproportionately impact minority voters? did, i want toy share an image from louisville, kentucky. haserson county, kentucky one of the largest populations -- black populations in

particular. at one polling site, serving this entire county that is home 6:00 p.m.,le, at when the polls closed, people were literally racing from their jobs and banging on the doors of this expo center to ensure that their voice could be heard. it is really critical that we ensure that communities of color in particular are adequately served by appropriate numbers of polling sites. on april 7, 2020, outside of marshall high school, you have largely black voters in garbage bags waiting in the rain to vote because the city reduce to the number of polling sites from 180 to five. this has become a widespread form of voter suppression in our country. we need to make sure that voters of color are adequately served by appropriate numbers of

polling sites. >> thank you. pollsn the closure of impact health risks during the pandemic? what should they do to reduce risk?isk customer -- this >> thank you for that question. when we have less polls, we have longer lines. that increases the risk. obviously, we don't want that to happen. we don't want people to be at risk for developing coronavirus, getting coronavirus. we recommended actually increasing the number so that people have shorter lines thereby decreasing the risk of

being in contact with coronavirus. challenges, some voters are still likely to face long lines. ms. washington, what advice would you give to voters who want to make sure they cast their ballot safely? >> thank you so much for the question. americans willf vote on number third. i stood in line because it is worth it. when you stand in a long line to vote, you have a chance to elect someone who can make it easier for you to vote the next time around. make a plan, wear your mask, pack your lunch and perhaps your

dinner, bring a pair of comfortable shoes, and some water and stay in line. but i would also call on federal and state governments to do everything in their power to expand voting access. there are three actions they can take. first, make voting by mail available to every voter without requiring an excuse or a witness. expand early voting. both in person and absentee. third, make voting on election day easier by extending the hours. >> thank you very much, i go back. thank you so much. >> the chair now recognizes mr. kaine for five minutes. chairman, wemr.

appreciate you pulling this together. are you and other medical professionals able to protect the magnitude of the virus and where exactly it will be? >> thank you for that question begging for that question. i personally -- i can tell you that we are very concerned that over 40,000 confirmed infections per day, things are not going in the right direction right now. we are also concerned with what twindemic when coronavirus blends with an increased number of coronavirus

cases we are seeing in coast -- when we start sending students home, there could be an increased number of cases. i cannot predicted by there are done rightings being now. >> i share all your concerns. known in this country is going to be able to perfectly predicted this. predict this.y viruses can spread very quickly. it could be days and weeks within an outbreak comes together. there is concern about a second wave, no you study this in terms of history of our country. jersey, worrying ofut us hitting some type andad that we had in march

april. i am praying that does not happen. you believe it is possible for parts of the country to suffer from serious outbreaks in late october and into november. that could limit the ability for people to be able to vote in p erson safely. >> that is a really good question. serious outbreak later on this fall. >> we have to make sure that we have the in person voting.

wehave to make sure that have hand sanitizer available, ensure that we have everybody wear a face mask. we have shown that wearing face masks decreases the transmission of the virus. making sure that we have physical distancing. those three things alone and making sure we implement those measures. they will be imperative to making sure that we have a safe and healthy election. >> i am very concerned about these issues. i wanted to see that if you agreed with the assessment that

-- to ensure that any outbreak that does happen later on this year does not disenfranchise people and force them to risk their health to go and vote. in particular, i wanted to ask you about drop boxes for ballots and where that fits into the broader efforts we have been talking about today. -- as a civil rights lawyer, there are two things that i know are true. one is that the pandemic is having a harsh impact on black people, latina people and other vulnerable communities. number two, voter suppression is alive and well. critical that we in every corner of our country to make sure communities have access to the ballot. also during early voting. is there any merit to the

concern about drop boxes and ballots? >> absolute not. secured,safe, they are they are monitored by officials and provide another safeway for voters to deposit their absentee ballot in communities across our country. >> thank you to all of you for your questions. >> mr. chairman, there were a lot of things brought up during the hearing we had today, i think that should first be addressed on some of these, i know a few members on your side referenced a series of comments

made by somebody who is peddling . book right now out of context going after the president whether it is valid or not. about whether the president downplayed anything, dr. fauci was just interviewed while we were having this hearing. the reporter asked him if he had a sense that he was -- if the president will -- that the president was not downplaying this? dr. fauci said i did not get any sense that he was distorting anything. --my discussions with them, with him, they were always trade forward about the concerns. i would hear him discussing the same sort of things. he let off and said we just got through with the briefing, with the group from the task force and we would talk about it.

the suggestions that people throw out, anonymous sources that turn out to be debunked, i wish we would not peddle in those kind of -- kinds of conspiracy theories. record on the's military has been so much stronger. especially the previous administration. he gave troops the payraise and the support they need. they were dying in training accidents. our men and women were training -- dying in training accidents i a 5-1 margin. has had their back, knowest talk about voting. it seems that some still want to peddle this myth that the post ,ffice can't handle the volume that there was some kind of issue with the post office, that more money is needed for states. let's go to the post office.

they have pointed out in multiple hearings that they have more than enough money to get through not only the rest of this year but the middle of next year if they don't get another dime from congress. there are some states, this has been pointed out. there are some states that have been able to go where they require too late overtime to submit the mail-in ballots. they can let you mail a ballot in, that means days or maybe weeks after, ballots are still coming in. we saw this in california where more than three weeks after the election, three weeks after the election, there were races that were being overturned, that one person was winning the night of the election by six points.

surprisingly, no more ballots showed up after that. i don't think the american people want to see a case where we have to wait weeks and weeks to get the result from some state, let's let the stakes -- -- let's let the states handle the election. is 75 billion that we give states that is still available. that money can be used to -- gave states that is still available. if people need has sanitizer and masks, all of those things are already covered under the money appropriated. some people still -- keep

throwing billions of dollars around like this is monopoly money. if they run out of money, that is a conversation we can have but not one state has run out of the 150 billion we sent them. i think that is important to point out as well. as we heard from a number of our witnesses, we also heard from different studies, talked about different studies that are out there that talk about the problems if we were to mandate -- i agree with so many of the witnesses that americans have more options than they have ever had. we need to fight to make sure that is maintained. if there are problems, let's address those problems by particular state. said theyse doctors can safely do it.

that is your choice. in a ballot,o mail you can request a ballot. the states run those elections and the states know what they need to do to ensure that people can illegally vote in the states. those legally vote in states. every person that is on a voting goal is mel dibella. --tever the percentage is every person that is on a voting ballot.mailed a people die. that is why you have to clean up your rolls. people ons county had those rolsl th 0-- rolls that

had died. there were ballots that just disappeared. where did they go? no one knows. we should be working with the state to make sure they have the tools they need, we send them over 100 billion dollars, they still have money available to run fair elections in person. this idea that the federal government should make states -- a california type system results were changing. that is not something that instills confidence among voters. this ensures the companies that when you cast that vote, nobody will be able to nullify your vote within illegal vote or that you have to wait weeks and weeks to get the result. this is america, we love participating in democracy, promote democracy but we believe

in the peaceful transition of power. i am not denying the results of the election, getting the results of the election on election night and then continuing to move our country forward. with that, i hope we are able to work together on those challenges and address these other issues that have come up to identify them as well. with that, mr. chairman, i go back. -- yield back. >> let me close by thanking all of our panelists for their remarks here today. it was very instructive. these are both voting rights advocates. they agreed on the same basic

steps. voters urgently asking opponents options in order to cast about and fairly.ly they urged more early voting, more polling places and more options for voters to vote by mail or by dropbox. or as we have done in south satelliteestablished voting places during the month of october. these recommendations will minimize the risk of the coronavirus for voters. i ask unanimous consent to enter thatthe record a letter

the subcommittee has received and report -- support of these recommendations -- these are especially important to ensure that americans with disabilities are able to safely cast their votes. i hear no objections so ordered. with election day less than eight weeks away, state and local officials must act now to ensure that these recommendations are effectively input method. voting,t expand mail-in drop boxes and in person voting. poll workers in order to maintain or increase the number of polling places on election day.

given the virus possible harmful impact on seniors, younger americans must be recruited to serve as poll workers in greater numbers than ever before. i urge every american who can serve as a poll worker this year to do so. democracy needs you. you know there is still work to do to prevent a repeat of long lines that forces many voters to hours. 6 or seven like i recall the gentleman down in texas -- a gentleman down in texas said it took him seven hours to cast his vote but he stayed there. i recall seeing people bang on .indows in kentucky

they got there one minute after time because they had to work and there were locked out of the voting. i say to my colleagues, that is not what i call fair. that is not what i call supporting this democracy. we have to agree that that is just wrong. we must do better. whenmber as some may do, beaufort county was majority and nobody ofan color held any elective office -- this person was beaten within

minutes of death trying to register people to vote. at a time when alabama was almost 40% african-american, less than 2% of african-americans were registered to vote. but that isfair what we inherited. after the supreme court decision. we all know there is a problem where peoplenities should be allowed unfettered access to the vote. i resent anybody telling me that state will resist the telling themnment

how to run the elections. i saw both of my parents, both --lege graduates wet is the kind of state law have inherited. i will hopefully -- ask that we think about this democracy we are trying to preserve. moree in support of a perfect union or are we backtracking on that pursuit? all members need to submit additional request to the chair.

please respond as properly as you are able to. this hearing is adjourned. >> c-span's washington journal, every day, we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and discussing policy issues that impact you. coming up monday morning, we'll talk about coronavirus relief legislation and the full congressional agenda. and a discussion of president trump's new supreme court list. ended,he state ribs atcolm, a keynote speaker the democratic national convention talks about campaign 2020. watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 p.m. is to on monday morning and join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets.

both chambers of congress return to session next week. the house gambles in on monday for debate on several bills with votes scheduled at 6:30 p.m. mr. and. a resolution condemning anti-asian bias following the coronavirus pandemic. later this month, measures that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and one that re-authorizes u.s. intelligence agencies, follow the house live on c-span. the senate returns monday and master spend is weak debating judicial nominations, mostly for courts in california and illinois. current funding levels expire on september 30, follow the senate live on c-span2. >> live event coverage on monday starts at noon, eastern as a

sound -- house subcommittee examines u.s. postal service operations. the house is back for legislative business beginning at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. postspan2, the washington hosted a special on the evangelical vote. after that, a look at have technology is helping the black lives matter movement and other citizen activists groups. the senate continues work on nominations for u.s. district judges. saturday night, president trump held a campaign rally in nevada where he talked to his supporters about rebutting the economy and the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. sing a song, you're the pia